A video circulating on social media purportedly showing a mob surrounding a schoolboy and coercing him into urinating on a Pakistani flag lying on a road here has prompted police to launch a probe and book three people.
The Aligarh district unit of the Samajwadi Party condemned the incident, which it saw as an attempt at inciting communal discord in the wake of last week's Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
In a police complaint, the 15-year-old student's family said he was returning home from the Government Inter College with friends on Monday afternoon when he noticed the flag lying on the ground and picked it up out of curiosity.
Moments later, a mob accosted the boy, demanded to know his name, started abusing him and coerced him to urinate on the flag, it stated. The video clip showed the visibly terrified boy pleading and explaining that he had picked up the flag merely out of curiosity.
An FIR was registered late on Monday night at the Banna Devi police station and three accused, including one unnamed, were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
A senior police officer said the matter was under investigation and asserted that strict action would be taken against those found guilty.
Reacting to the incident, Samajwadi Party district general secretary Manoj Yadav alleged that certain elements were trying to incite communal discord in the wake of the Pahalgam tragedy.
"It is a deeply disturbing video but the incident is not an isolated one. We have received reports of similar incidents of harassment from other parts of the city. The administration must act decisively to prevent any attempts to disrupt peace," he said.
In a separate incident, police said a first information report (FIR) has been registered against unidentified persons for allegedly ransacking the shop of Omar Husain, a fruit juice vendor, in the Suwarn Jayanti Nagar area under the Kuwarsi police station limits.
"We have taken cognisance of both incidents and investigations are underway, Circle Officer Abhay Pande told reporters and appealed to people to refrain from spreading rumours or inciting tension.
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